It Tottenham Hotspur have officially started preparing for the 2023/24 campaign with the appointment of their new manager, ex-Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou. He will become the first Australian to manage in the EPL when Spurs kick-off away at Brentford on August 13th.
After a dissatisfactory 2022/23 season, which saw Tottenham use three different managers, Antonio Conte, Cristin Stellini and Ryan Mason, Spurs fans will be hoping that Postecoglou can help the club ride a wave to the top of the Premier League.
At the very least, Postecoglou will be hoping to help Spurs overcome their Neighbours Arsenal, who they will face Home & Away this season.
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With this in mind, the team at betting.com have looked back at Premier League managerial appointments that mark the first time a boss from another country managed a top-flight team
- Manuel Pellegrini – Chile (Manchester City)
Manuel Pellegrini is an acclaimed Chilean manager who is the current boss of La Liga side Real Betis. When he managed Manchester City between 2013 and 2016, he was the first-ever Chilean manager to manage a Premier League team.
Across Pellegrini’s three-year stint at Man City, he was widely respected and won the League Cup and the EPL in his first season as a manager, becoming the first Premier League manager from outside of Europe to win the top-flight title.
In 2016, Pellegrini departed the club and was replaced with the current and highly successful Man City boss, Pep Guardiola.
2. Bob Bradley – USA (Swansea City)
In October 2016, American manager Bob Bradley was appointed as the manager of Swansea City, who played in the Premier League at the time. This made him the first American boss in the Premier League.
Bradley lasted just 85 days and eleven games as Swansea’s manager, the sixth-shortest reign of any EPL manager in history. Out of his eleven games in charge, Swansea only won twice, alongside two draws and seven defeats. Luckily, the club narrowly missed relegation that season.
3. Avram Grant – Israel (Chelsea)
Following Jose Mourinho’s sacking in 2007, Avram Grant was appointed manager of Chelsea, making him the first-ever Israeli to manage an EPL club.
He had a shaky start as manager, however, he did guide Chelsea to a second-place finish that season after being unbeaten at home in the Premier League under his management.
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Grant also came close to glory in the Champions League, taking Chelsea to the Champions League final. However, Chelsea drew 1-1 with Manchester United in the final and were beaten 6-5 on penalties. After the final, Chelsea announced that Grant’s contract had been terminated after just one season.
4. Sven-Göran Eriksson – Sweden (Manchester City)
Sven-Göran Eriksson became the first-ever Swedish manager in the EPL in 2007, not long after leaving his post as manager of the England national team to join Manchester City. A true breaker of records, Eriksson was not only England’s first-ever non-British manager, but the first-ever non-Brit to manage Manchester City too.
Eriksson’s time at Man City started well, and the team stayed in the top 6 throughout the first half of the season, but fell to 12th following a string of poor results. His fate was sealed after an 8-1 loss to Middlesbrough, the biggest defeat of Eriksson’s managerial career.
City finished 9th at the end of the season, and Eriksson was sacked after just one campaign in charge. His sacking came just three months before City’s life-changing takeover.
5. Velimir Zajec – Croatia (Portsmouth)
After Harry Redknapp’s dismissal at Portsmouth in 2004, the executive director of the club, Velimir Zajec took charge making him the first-ever Croatian manager in the EPL.
As an interim manager, Zajec only lasted five months in charge of Portsmouth, and despite winning his first two games in charge, he could not stop Portsmouth from becoming involved in a relegation scrap. Thankfully, Portsmouth narrowly avoided relegation that season, finishing 16th in the league table.
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